Sometimes people ask why I prefer to taste wines without knowing what they are and who made them. It’s because when I meet vintners like Lewis Pasco, I want to like everything they make.

Pasco grew up on the East Coast – and has the accent to prove it; worked as a chef before finding his way into wineries such as Napa’s Chimney Rock; and ended up in Israel, making wine at Recanati, a winery founded in 2000. At lunch recently, talking about his kids and food, he seemed like a regular, happy guy. Get him started on the wines, though, and he lights up. One of the most exciting things he’s learned is how to grow good barbera, a grape well-known in Piedmont, Italy (where he’s also worked).

Plummy with plenty of acidity (and kosher to boot), it’s a wine for anything from brisket to matzo brei – though for the latter eggy scramble you might prefer the lively sauvignon. | Tara Q. Thomas